Distribution of wealth in the 4th most unequal country in the world

This short video has been doing the social media rounds today.  And for good reason.  Produced by the Office For National Statistics it shows the UK’s wealth distribution as broken down by class, regions and types of wealth.  The infographics  are eye-popping.  Like this one:

ONS Regional Wealth Distribution

 

And this one:

ONS Total Wealth Distribution

Comments (10)

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  1. Jim says:

    Absolutely shocking figures. Shocking.

    I knew there was an acute north-south divide but I didn’t realise it was quite so severe.

    What is our mainstream media and press doing not publishing this material? That is equally shocking.

    Scotland with 8.4% of the UK population contributes 9.9% of the UK treasury’s income and we all end up in relative poverty!

    How can Better Together justify this one!

    I’m sharing this with all and sundry, press included, and I hope everyone that reads it does the same.

    1. Charles Muir says:

      I keep hearing that 8.4% population and 9.9% of the treasury income figures, but Yes campaigners seem to leave out the fact it is Wales and N. Ireland that skew the figures.

      Total GVA per head – England £21.9K, Scotland £20K, NI £16.1K, Wales £15.4k
      Total GVA by Country – England 84.8%, Scotland 7.7%, Wales 3.4%, NI 2.1%
      Productivity (per hr worked, UK=100) – Eng 101.5, Scot 97.4, Wal 85.2, NI 82.8
      Public Sector Expenditure (per head) – NI £10.8K, Scot £10.15k, Wal £9.7K, Eng £8.5k
      Net Borrowing (government debt) : UK 7.4% GDP, Scotland 14% GDP
      Businesses per 10K adults – End 984, NI 785, Wal 753, Scot 740

      We pay less tax on average, receive more public expenditure support on average (more than 2K per person over England), have higher government borrowing per head, have fewer businesses per head, and we are more reliant on UK government for jobs (mostly in defence industries),

      There are many good arguments for independence, but claiming we are the financial power house in the Union, and that the rest of the UK receives a net benefit from our contributions is disingenuous. Independence is a massive risk financially and the people who vote Yes should be honest and say so. If it goes wrong – and there are many, many reasons why it could – we will be in a considerably worse financial position than we are now.

      Personally I like the idea of independence, I like the thought that we can be a strong nation, with our own unique brand, and our destiny in our own hands. Unfortunately my brain is over-ruling my heart on this one – the risks are massive and I for one will not risk my children’s future prosperity to fulfil Alex Salmons’ wet dream.

    2. Ian says:

      Unfortunately, in this words there are lies, damn lie and statistics!

      In order to be sure about how to interpret the first graphic, you would need to go back to the source document. However, on the surface, it is simply saying that a greater proportion of the total number of “wealthy” household (however this is defined) are in the south. However, for wealth to be equally distributed across the UK, this is exactly what you would expect; this is simply because the greatest number of households are in the south.

      On the contrary, if we are being selective about the evidence, then Edinburgh has a greater proportion of High Net Worth households than London – which runs counter to the above premise.

  2. Anne R Ward says:

    I totally agree with your post, A Slap in the Face

  3. muymalestado says:

    What is it that causes important information like this to become important in people’s lives? Corporations’ non-payment of UK tax suddenly burst upon us and now needs addressing; all the while the problem had been written about and speechified for years.

    The wealth multiplier situation is obscene, but who is doing anything? What is the trigger that one day will catapult this problem into the Prime Minister’s inbox?

    Me wringing my hands over this video or over an Eye article will not move the populace very far.

  4. annie says:

    Billboards. The Yes Campaign should invest money in advertising the above (along with the most damning extracts from the McCrone Report) in every city and large town in Scotland. It has to be seen, even if subliminally.

    My husband owns an acre long piece of land alongside a busy bypass. I shall be getting in touch with Yes Scotland to suggest they use it for advertising (free of course!)

  5. deewal says:

    There’s a YES Campaign ?

  6. Jim says:

    Yes. there is a Yes campaign.

    Its inaugral meeting in Clydebank a couple of weeks ago attracted almost 300 people despite our local newspaper not publicising the event beforehand and not giving it any coverage afterwards.

    The media and press would have us all believe that there is no Yes campaign!

    That’s why “word of mouth” is so important and we can all do our little bit by getting involved in getting leaflets through doors etc.

  7. Doug Smith says:

    Ive looked up the claims of 4th most unequal country. IT IS TOTALLY UNTRUE.
    Do the research for yourself and see.
    Its just politics for the yes vote.

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